Category: Ecclesiology

We have noticed a welcome recent trend in thinking about church life. It is a movement away from a fixation on processes and programs, traditions and techniques, mechanistic deliberations about an organisation. It is towards considering the culture of the church…

In the last little while I’ve had a couple of conversations with people who are trying to get their head around the amorphous complexity that is the Church of England. This is partly administrative (“What on earth is a Deanery…

What is a church? I don’t mean as a denomination, or as a theological entity. I mean in terms of the local church: the St. Somebody’s that’s in the town, or village, or just down the street. What is it? It’s…

In an article on churchleaders.com Thom Schulz talks about the growing numbers of those who are “Done with Church.” His insight is the distinction he makes between this cohort and what we normally mean by the de-churched. These are not…

I’ve finally read this book. Those who know me will wonder why. After all for many years I was the leader or a church plant that had the hallmarks of the “Missional Community” brand. But at that time I hadn’t…

Anonymous asks: It is my biblical understanding that a person who is to be baptised is first to be a believer. Of their own free will they are to receive Jesus Christ as their personal saviour – A faithful, cognitive…

Anonymous asks: Having just looked up Psalm 149.3 I came upon this item (http://www.freedomministries.org.uk/masters/idiom11c.shtml) What do you make of it and what is your opinion? OK. Psalm 149.3 in the ESV is this: Let them praise his name with dancing,…

I sometimes read books that are from a different “field” than my own. This includes books from the world of corporate management and capitalist technique – an area I tend to avoid due to excessive buzzword compliance and a lingering…

One Church, Many Congregations is a fascinating little book. Written from an American Baptist context it explores what the authors call the “Key Church Strategy.” While the book is very closely tied to this strategy and occasionally assumes some familiarity…